Always hustling

H U S T L E.

Teachers have it easy, right? They get summers off, go home in the middle of the afternoon when students leave campus and are paid well. Actually, for most teachers, those are all myths, especially the last one.

Many teachers are paid so poorly, in fact, that they have to take second jobs to pay their bills. A study released earlier this year found that in 2015, the weekly wages of public school teachers in the United States were 17 percent lower than comparable college-educated professionals — and those most hurt were veteran teachers and male teachers.

Is it “great” that a teacher needs a second job so she can afford to rent a home and raise her kids? Try saying “Driving Uber is a great job for a doctor!” or “Why don’t more attorneys drive Lyft on the weekends?”

So why do we think it’s a good idea for teachers? Either we believe the job isn’t that hard or we believe it’s not worth the kind of professional compensation that we consider standard for jobs that require a similar level of education and ongoing professional development. In both cases, we need to re-examine our view of undervaluing teachers financially.